Eye contact, the way you move on stage, and the motions you make is an important part of your message. In fact, there are speech experts who have concluded that the words we use account for less than 40 percent of our message delivery. The rest is communicated through body language and other nonverbal communication. You want to use these movements to your advantage, and you do not want the audience to misunderstand them.

The main obstacle that most people have with poor body language is that they are unaware that they are using such language. The majority of people are not conscious of receiving nonverbal communication from a speaker, but we do register a great deal of thought and we constantly draw conclusions throughout a speech. Therefore, it is often difficult to control what you are not conscious of. This is why rehearsal with a videotape becomes invaluable. It gives you an opportunity to see your body language and to make any necessary adjustments.

Your speech does not begin the moment you start speaking at a podium. Your speech begins the moment the audience sees you. This could be while you are walking toward the stage or across the stage to the podium. First impressions are vitally important for a public speaker, and the audience will form an opinion about before you speak even your first word.

Here are some tips on how to approach a podium before you begin speaking.

• Walk in an energetic, comfortable manner, but not quickly.
• If you are using a full text version of your speech, hold it inconspicuously, and then arrange it quickly on the podium.
• If you are using note cards, pull them out of your pocket after you have arrived at the podium, not while walking toward it.
• Hold you head up and do not look at the floor. When you arrive at the podium, make sure you are looking directly at the audience.
• Pause for a moment and take an inconspicuous deep breath before you begin speaking.

It is an established fact of public speaking that the more eye contact you make with an audience, the more effective you message will be communicated. Try to select several members of the audience and make eye contact with them throughout the speech. It could be people you know well who are there to support you, or you can select a stranger. However, be careful not to make eye contact with the same person constantly unless they are a close friend and have given you permission to do so. Too much eye contact with the same person will make that person uncomfortable.

If you are nervous, it is best to keep your hands on the podium at all times, out of sight of the audience. Nervous people tend to have shaky hands, and this will be seen by the audience. You should refrain from drinking water during a speech if you are nervous because your hands will be shaking and the glass will too. If the speaker feels that the audience is noticing this, it will make the speaker even more nervous. However, if you are comfortable using your hands to make gestures during a speech, it is a powerful way of communicating your message.

Here are some gestures that will help you to connect with an audience.

• Emphatic gestures. These can be used to emphasize a point strongly. Perhaps you are delivering a motivational speech and you want the audience to become involved in something. You can point to them. This is not considered rude. They will feel as if they are involved in your speech. Other emphatic gestures include making a fist, and sweeping your hand in the air to motion to the audience.
• Using fingers to count points. When people are giving a list to someone else, they often use the fingers on their hands to count them. "Number 1. Get milk, number 2. Get bread, and so on." In a speech, this is often a subtle but very powerful way of letting the audience know that you are enumerating several important points that they should understand.
• Descriptive gestures. We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words and if a picture is vital to your message, you will have a visual aid. However, if you have not prepared a visual aid and you want to give the audience a general idea of the object you are referencing, you can draw a picture with your fingers and hands.

If you are not using a podium, you may simply be standing on a stage and addressing an audience. If this is the case, you should, contrary to popular belief, keep stage movements at a minimum. No one wants to see someone moving back and forth on a stage while they are giving a speech. It will look amateurish. The simple rule of thumb is to move when it is required, and not much more than that. If you are using a chart, for example, you might occasionally have to walk toward it, and then you can move back to center stage. However, keeping your movements to a minimum will serve you best.

Nonverbal communication is especially important when you are visiting a foreign country. You may be speaking in front of an audience who knows your language, or you might have a translator. Either way, the gestures you think are appropriate in your native country might not be appropriate elsewhere. If you are not absolutely certain about the use of certain hand gestures or body movements, do not make them. It is perfectly acceptable to remain at the podium with your hands on the podium throughout your speech.

We all know by now that you must thoroughly research your audience before you arrive for your speech, and this is especially important when you are visiting a foreign country. However, in addition to research, it is important to convey to a foreign audience that you are honored to have been invited to speak to them. You are an ambassador of your native country and there are some people in the audience who will know some positive and negative stereotypes of your native country. One particularly powerful tactic a speaker can use is to rehearse at least one line of your speech in the foreign language. Make sure that the line is very important or, at the very least, would be very warmly received by the audience. You do not need to speak it perfectly, the audience will be very forgiving and they will be impressed that you made an effort. Either at the beginning or at the end of your speech, deliver this line and you will immediately gain a high level of rapport with the audience.